


Baker's Dozen

by astradanvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cadmus is a horrible place, Clones, F/F, F/M, Fresh Start, Genetically Engineered Beings, January supercat slam, Lillian Luthor is a monster, M/M, TW: Violence, forced pregnancy referenced, genetic hybrids, she's horrible, tw: talk of experimentation on children
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-09-20 00:00:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9466496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astradanvers/pseuds/astradanvers
Summary: On a rescue mission to find Jeremiah Danvers, Supergirl and J'onn J'onzz find someone or more specifically many someones that they weren't expecting to find. Now the superfamily is growing by a great many members and having to help those new members deal with what they faced at Cadmus. What's going to happen next?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shadhavar1126 (Chimera428)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chimera428/gifts).



> This is another one of those epics that I didn't mean to start. It all started with the thought, "what if Cadmus made a Kryptonian clone?" and from there it spiraled out of control. So anyway, I'm going to let you guys see what you think. Feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Kara hovers above the facility, “Eagle One, what have we got?”

Scanning the area Kara spots what she's looking for, “Convoy coming in from the south side, Eagle Two inside. Await signal and instructions, Eagle Three.”

“Supergirl -”

“I know,” Kara says simply to her sister’s unspoken warning, “you too.”

Kara sees the minute the underground garage opens and uses her superspeed to attach herself to the underside of the incoming convoy, her body pressed as tight as she can get it to the undercarriage. Inside the garage she superspeeds into the shadows, her new black battle suit an exact replica of the one Astra used to wear (plus an added hood to cover her blonde hair for this mission anyway, she can’t stand the hood), right down to the Kryptonite defense device. She watches as they extract J’onn J’onzz from the back of the middle SUV, his disguise that of a small reptilian alien.

There's a gash on his cheek but otherwise her space dad looks well. “Welcome to Project Cadmus,” a voice says from the opposite shadows and Kara draws in a sharp breath, she knows the woman who steps forward, has seen her several times at Lena’s office. She leans further back into the shadows, silently projecting her thoughts towards J’onn, ever thankful for her aunt and Winn’s technological advances.

“Some welcome you've given me, Ms. Luthor.”

The woman scowls, “How do you know my name?”

The smirk that stretches across thin reptilian lips makes Kara cringe a bit, “That’s for me to know, Ms. Luthor.”

Lillian Luthor crosses her arms over her chest, assessing the alien before her, “No matter,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand, “keep your secrets, no one else will ever hear them pass your lips.”

“How are you sure they haven’t already?”

_ Stop antagonizing her, J’onn, we need to know where Jeremiah is _ . “If you had,” Lillian says, “believe me you wouldn’t be here now.” She looks to the guards on either side of J’onn, “Take him to holding, someone will be along to collect him in due time.”

“Yes, ma’am,” one of the guards says, steering J’onn down one of the hallways.

Kara curses silently at herself because there’s no way for her to follow J’onn without alerting Lillian to her location, “You can come out now,” she says moderately loudly.

As Lillian speaks a man steps out of the shadows, “What was that one, Mother?”

“An Aellon, Lex,” she says, “not that it will matter for long. Come tomorrow it will be dead or dying,” she waves vaguely, “mostly gone in any case.”

The evil smile that curls Lex Luthor’s lips ties Kara’s insides into knots, “When do I get to play with one, Mother?” he questions, “Preferably the Man of Steel’s much better looking cousin.”

Lillian smiles, “Soon, my boy,” she tells him, “all too soon.” She moves over to one of the counters along the far wall, “Your dear sister has made friends with her.”

“I have no sister,” Lex growls low in his throat. “Corben was supposed to handle that.”

“Yes, well, your dear Corben failed to handle more than just your sister’s demise.” She shrugs, “No matter, we’ll handle them ourselves.” She moves forward, as several guards reenter the room, “Come, we’ll go into town to one of my discreet business holdings for lunch and then return for play time with the Aellon.”

Lex nods, “Of course, Mother, as you wish.”

The two of them enter the same SUV that brought J’onn into the facility and it takes them out through the underground garage ramp. “Are you okay?” a voice questions in Supergirl’s ear.

“Yeah,” she whispers, aware the person on the other end will pick up the word even though her voice barely carries.

She slips from the shadows and down the hall the guards travelled with J’onn, listening.

_ “He’s not our problem-” _

_ “He's a psychopath.” _

_ “And he's boss lady’s son, just do what he says.” _

Kara shakes her head, not that room.

“ _ Sssh, baby.” _

_ “Leave her, she’ll die by nighttime.” _

_ “Subject Q-” _

_ “Leave her.” _

She'll check that room out after she finds J’onn, clearly someone needs their help, a tiny someone if the term of endearment was any indication. Closing her eyes she pushes her thoughts out,  _ J’onn say something. _

Listening hard again she hears what she's looking for, the Kryptonian lullabye she so often sings to Carter. She follows it instantly, straight to a steel door, steel not lead. A quick scan yields the knowledge that J’onn is alone and she curls her fingers into the metal, peeling it in a way she hopes won't set off alarms. Able to safely step into the room she lets a small gasp slip from her lips at the sight of J’onn in the Aellon form chained to a wall, a shackle securing his wrists and ankles as well as another around his neck.

Moving quickly she makes easy work of the shackles, surprised when their breaking fails to set off one alarm or another. “We have to be quick,” J’onn says quietly, “there's no telling when they'll return.”

“Lex is with her,” Kara says quickly, leading the way back out into the hallway. She makes her way towards the room where she'd heard the conversation involving Subject Q. The door is locked by a simple deadbolt and she tilts her head at it slightly before flipping it unlocked.

“Kara,” J’onn says, “we don't have -”

“There's a baby in here,” she says, “or at least I think there is. If there's one thing I will most certainly not do it's leave a child in the hands of that monstrous woman.”

“Fine,” he says after long moments, the determination set into the lines of Kara’s face telling him that whatever argument he makes will fall on far past deaf ears. “But we have to hurry if we want to find any indication of where Jeremiah is.”

Kara nods then turns back to the door, opening the heavy metal with ease. A soft gasp slips past her lips as she takes in the room before them. “Oh Rao,” she murmurs.

“Eagle Three and Four,” she vaguely hears J’onn say in her ear as she moves into the room, “we need you both inside the facility. Our mission just changed.”

Looking around Kara can't help but feel her heart clench and her stomach somersault, “Who are you?” a voice questions.

Her eyes drawn instantly to the voice’s owner, “My name is Supergirl.” She steps forward but the young feathered being, child, she's a child, steps back, “Who are you?”

“Subject Q,” a new voice says, drawings Kara’s attention to one of the several other beings, all of them children, in the room with them, “she's the one, the one Jeremiah Danvers said would find us. She will take us to Her,” and the her is said with reverence, like the person they speak of is some savior.

“We have to be sure, Subject J,” the clearly older of the children snaps. “One too many times have we fallen prey to one of  _ her _ ,” this her clearly the devil to whatever savior the other child spoke of, “illusions before.”

Kara looks between them and makes an instant decision, “I am Kara Zor-El, last daughter of Krypton,” her voice turns softer, “I’m here to help.”

The younger of the two children she's been speaking with smiles, “Told you it was her, it's Zhor.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this started out as a small idea of what if when they crashed Cadmus they found a kid....one kid turned to two.....turned to three.....turned to this.......that said, this has gotten highly out of hand. I know it's a little hard to follow who all was found at Cadmus in this chapter but I have a list and after the next chapter or so will be willing to post it if you all would like but I think after the next couple of chapters it'll be more easily followable as to who everyone is.

"What in the name of Rao?" Eliza mutters, stepping off of the elevator into the DEO. There's a child sitting at Winn's console, one sitting on the same console, two hovering near the ceiling while several agents try to get them down using food, she glances in a lab to see three more with metal and glass objects they should definitely NOT have. She draws in a sharp breath, "Freeze! Everyone freeze!" and just like when Alex and Kara were children it works, every single child stops moving immediately. She points to the two children flying, “Ground, now.” Both children drop instantly to the ground, “One bag of chips each,” she tells the agents, then looks the children up and down, noting their small stature, “make that two.” She pushes the door open to the lab, “Lab equipment down,” the three children all place the objects in their hands down carefully, “out,” she says, pointing towards where the first two children are happily munching on their snacks. She makes her way towards the console, one eye on the three lab rats as they join the two tiny acrobats. She looks down at the toddler sitting on the console who smiles up at her, rows of pointed teeth visible, “Alien it is,” she mutters while scooping the little girl into her arms and holding the other open as the little boy in the chair hovers up to her. “Come on, let's settle you two with the others, I'm sure you can handle chips with those teeth.” 

One of the agents looks at her with amazement as she lowers both toddlers to the floor, “That was amazing.”

Eliza smiles, “That was knowing how to handle an alien child.” She glances around, “Where are my daughters and husband?”

“That way,” the other agent says, pointing down the hall towards the training rooms.

Nodding Eliza stoops down to be eye level with the children, “Eat your snacks -”

“What's a snack?” one of the older children asks.

A sad look takes over Eliza’s features, “It's food you get to eat between meals, like chips,” she motions towards the bag in the little girl’s hand, “or cookies.”

“We've never had any of those,” the boy at her side says.

Eliza glances at him then instinctively pulls him into a hug, “We’ll get some cookies after I find out what's going on around here,” she tells him quietly, “for now enjoy your chips.” She ruffles the boy’s hair, “No more misbehaving, listen to Agent Harrison and Agent Johansson.”

The children who understand all nod and Eliza hopes they'll help to keep the two little ones under control as well. She stands and heads down the hall towards the training rooms, stepping inside of the one with the door standing open. Inside she's more than a little shocked by what she's sees, in the middle of the room a tank has been erected, filled with water and inside is another child, this one sitting cross legged and avidly watching the others in the room. There are four other children in the room, one around fifteen, if she had to guess despite the feathers, a second around twelve, one clinging to Alura weighing in at about three, she'd say, and an infant cradled in Astra’s arms.

“What’s going on?” Eliza questions, drawing everyone’s attention towards her.

“Mom,” Alex says, moving towards her mother, “we umm,” she scrubs the back of her neck.

Kara steps forward, arms crossed, “We found them this morning. We organized an infiltration of Cadmus before daybreak, J’onn and I went in. Inside we found the children.” She glances to the girl who will answer only to Subject Q, “They know Jeremiah, Eliza.”

At the sound of Eliza’s name, Subject J’s head snaps up, “Eliza?” she questions, her eyes focused on Eliza, “You are Eliza Danvers?”

After a quick glance to all those in the room Eliza nods, “I’m Eliza, yes.”

Before anyone can blink, the girl has sped forward, her superspeed on display, and latches onto Eliza, “He told us you’d keep us safe,” she murmurs, face pressed into the crook of Eliza’s neck. “Jeremiah said that if we were ever to leave the nursery we should find you or the green man, that the two of you would help us.” She sobs quietly, “I never thought we’d leave that place.”

Pure instinct has kept Eliza upright as she wraps her arms around the girl in her arms, she sways them gently, “Sssh,” she whispers, fingers running gently through dark hair, “you’re safe,” she promises, “you’re safe now.”

Eliza meets Alex’s eyes over the girl’s head and she knows they're both thinking about the first time someone close to them fell into Eliza’s arms in the same fashion. Instead of making the young girl move, Eliza tucks her into her side, one hand continuing the soothing motions through long dark hair, “We never thought we’d get out of there,” the oldest of the children says, her arms folded across her chest as she plays with the thin layer of feathers on her forearm, “But Jeremiah promised he'd get us out,” she shrugs, “then he just disappeared. Subject J and I believe it has to do with what  _ she  _ always called Project Trifecta.”

“Subject J?” Eliza questions.

“Me,” the girl in her arms says quietly, “it is what they always called me, except Jeremiah.”

“We’ll find you a proper name,” Eliza says quietly, pulling the girl closer.

“What is Project Trifecta?” J’onn asks, more than a little mesmerized by the sight of his wife with the child still secure in her arms.

Q shakes her head, “We do not know,” she says simply, “Jeremiah would never tell us.”

“Mr. Schott -”

“Already on it,” Winn says, tapping away at the tablet in his hands, “perhaps you can help,” he says looking at Mon-El, “two teckkies are better than one.”

“Lead the way,” the Daxamite says, motioning him on his way.

Eliza shakes her head as she watches them walk away, “How many children?” she questions, dreading the answer.

“There were twelve of us in nursery, Eliza Danvers.”

“Twelve,” Eliza mutters, she looks around at her family. “Okay,” she nods, “first step first. I'm going to set up my lab, round up all of the children and we’ll get started on giving them check ups.”

“We need to analyze their power too,” Astra says, stepping forward, swaying slightly with the child in her arms.

“Power second, health first,” Eliza says simply, “we don't know what Lillian did to these children.”

“Cat’s on her way,” Kara says absently as she looks down at her phone, “I thought maybe she'd be some help,” she shrugs, “she's pretty good with kids.”

Eliza smiles, “She’ll be excellent help,” her eyes move to Alex, “as will you, daughter mine, come with me. Perhaps see about prying the little one away from your wife so we can look them over first.” She looks down to the girl curled against her side, “Would you like to stay with me?”

“Yes, please.”

After a nod she glances to the oldest, “Are you-”

“I will stay with Subject M, he is frightened since they tried to make him leave his environment,” she says nodding to the boy seated on the bottom of the water tank.

“I'll stay with them,” Hank says easing up beside Subject Q, “maybe if I show him how to morph his gills so that he can breath air then he will find he likes it.”

Eliza nods, “We’ll be in the lab. I’ll let Kara know when everything is set up.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken me so long guys. This one has given me a bit of a problem as far as continuing it is progressing but I promise I do have more in the works. Please be patient with me as far as this one goes.

The two Danvers women step into Eliza’s lab, Alex still cradling the baby to her chest, “How much do we know about each of the children?”

Alex sighs, “Most of them seem to be quite young, even though they’re very intelligent. Subjects Q and J are the oldest, god, these kids need names, I hate referring to them as subjects.”

Eliza rubs a hand over her daughter’s shoulders, “I know, sweetie,” she says quietly. She moves around the lab, setting up instruments and things as Alex awkwardly bounces the baby in her arms. “So was I the only one to notice anything unusual about J?”

Before Alex can answer the young woman in question enters the room, having remained behind to help with the child in the tank despite her wishes to go with Eliza, “Subject M is no longer in his habitat. The green man is calling him Kai. Subject M has always liked the name, Jeremiah taught us some human names.”

Smiling at the girl, Alex tilts her head, “Have you ever thought about what you'd like to be called?”

The young dark haired girl blushes, “I have found myself particularly fond of Juliette.”

Eliza smiles, “Then Juliette it shall be.”

“Really?” the young girl asks, excitement radiating through her.

“If you'd like it to be, yes.”

She smiles, eyes sparkling for the first time that they've seen as she reaches up for the white streak of hair at her temple, “I'd like that a lot.”

“Juliette it is,” Eliza says with a smile. She motions to the table where the red sunlamps are, “Sit here so I can draw some blood.”

“Unless those are kryptonite needles they won't work, unlike subjects N and L, Subject K and I are kryptonian clones.”

“Subject K?”

Juliette nods, “I believe the lady holding her is called Alura,” she says, face crinkled in mild confusion.

“Ah,” Alex says in understanding, now circling around the room adjusting things in preparation of the soon to be barrage of data coming through, all while finally adjusting to the small baby in her arms. “Do you know which kryptonians you are clones of?”

The young girl stares at her dumbfounded, “You did see us in the same room, surely -”

“I think she meant before today,” Eliza clarifies for her daughter.

“Oh,” Juliette says, blushing again and Eliza and Alex are both hit with how different she is from the person whose DNA spawned her, “no, Jeremiah was only able to find out that my sire, I suppose the proper term is dame, was tortured using kryptonite as a means to gain information on a hostage and her DNA taken then.”

“Wait, you're only three years old?”

“Two years, one month and three days to be exact,” Juliette says, “I was hyper aged in a chamber before that. Subject Q as well.” She shrugs, “Most of us older children were.”

Eliza and Alex glance at one another then nod, “Alright, let’s just take this one step at a time.” Eliza smiles at the girl, “First, let’s give you a check up, get some blood and then check over the baby. After that we’ll give everyone else a look.”

Juliette nods, “Will I be made to keep her?” she asks as she sits down on the table. “The woman, she always made me take care of the young ones, though that one,” she nods to the baby in Alex’s arms, “that’s the first one she made me carry.”

“You mean she’s your daughter,” Alex asks, bile rising in her throat at the mere thought. Juliette can’t be more than twelve, the same age Kara was when she arrived on Earth, terrified and alone and so very scared.

The young girl nods, “I suppose that is the word, yes. I carried her for nine months,” she shrugs, “though I am unsure of her genetic makeup or even if she is biologically related to me.” She turns sad, “I will care for her if I must though.”

A gentle finger beneath her chin causes Juliette to look at Eliza, “How about we take care of you first? Just because that woman forced you to have a child does not mean that you have to be responsible for her, you deserve the opportunity to be a child yourself.” She smiles a little, “And now you can have that chance.”

A wide smile spreads across Juliette’s features, though her brow is still slightly crinkled in concern, and she throws her arms around Eliza, “Thank you, Eliza Danvers. I knew that what Jeremiah said about you would prove to be true.”

Eliza holds the girl tightly in her embrace and glances over the top of her head at Alex, seeing tears in her daughters eyes, whatever Jeremiah was doing when he gave these children hope they both hope it was the right thing. Alex reaches up and brushes away a single tear that trails down her cheek and Eliza is reminded once again of the broken relationship the two of them have spent the past three years repairing and rebuilding, she wonders briefly if it’s about to crumble again. Because these children need a mother and Eliza is the only person here, alien or human, with the most extensive knowledge of raising an alien child, unless they were to call Martha. A glance at the baby in Alex’s arms reminds Eliza that they may very well have to call the Kent matriarch to find out just how many powers Clark developed as an infant into young childhood. Slowly she releases a breath she hadn’t been aware of holding, there are twelve children in the DEO facility right now, each in need of a thorough physical exam and probably several thousand hugs, they should probably get started on both of those things.

She eases back from Juliette’s grip, flips the switch on the red sun lamps, “This,” she tells Juliette, “is how we will take your blood from now on,” she smiles at the girl, brushes a finger over her cheek, “no more kryptonite.” The smile that forms on Juliette’s lips, though still strained by past pain and memories, Eliza suspects, is completely worth the moment of attempted levity.

**Author's Note:**

> zhor = heart


End file.
